With her distinctive voice as maestra, speaker, and poet, critics praise Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell as “one of the brightest stars in classical music.” (Channel 3 News, Connecticut). 

Named a 2022-2024 Award Recipient of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, Bovell’s singular imprint on the arts distills into two values: community engagement and musical excellence. She employs these values as Assistant Conductor to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony, while continuing to have high demand as a guest conductor.

Bovell's 2021-2022 season featured her debut at the BBC Proms with the Chineke! Orchestra, of which ArtsDesk stated simply: "Never let her go." The season also features debuts with Oakland Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory, as well as a return to the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Outside conducting, Bovell's poem, "Tethered Voices," will be premiered by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, set to music by James Lees III. Since making her professional debut as the Chicago Sinfonietta’s Assistant Conductor in 2016, invitations as guest conductor have included Hartford Opera Theatre, New Britain Symphony, and a particularly memorable performance leading Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. with the Memphis Symphony prior to her official appointment.

Bovell’s first private lesson came at 18, a late introduction to classical music that sets her background apart. In hopes of inspiring similar young artists, Bovell has shared insights from her unconventional career path with news outlets, universities and organizations including the BBC and the League of American Orchestras. 

A Los Angeles native, Bovell received a Master of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from The Hartt School, where she studied with Edward Cumming, and holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the College of the Performing Arts at Chapman University

In addition to conducting, Bovell is a published author, releasing her first poetry book titled “Dear Soul...” in 2009. She has increasingly interwoven her poetry with her music career, collaborating with Rob McClure’s Conductor Cam series in 2020 to perform her poem “Tethered Voices.”